Daily podcast – December 1, 2009

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Tuesday, December 1, 2009.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon de Ryhove.

Making headlines today:

South African state power firm Eskom has cut its request for tariff rises to 35% from 45% a year over the next three years.

A senior official of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, Thembani Bukula, says that Eskom submitted its revised application for a tariff increase by the agreed deadline on Monday.

He says that Nersa will analyse the changes Eskom has made and will give the public an opportunity to comment. He added, however, that only a week or two would be allowed for comment instead of the month given after the initial request.

He says that the other dates Nersa had set up for public hearings in January won't change and the decision will still be made on the 24th of February.

Meanwhile, the capital cost associated with the building of Eskom's Medupi power station, in Limpopo province, could swell beyond the already escalated price of 125-billion-rand once flue-gas desulphurisation, or FGD, technology is incorporated.

The FGD plant has reportedly emerged as a necessary precondition for World Bank funding at Medupi. It will be installed under a separate contract during the power station's first general overhaul in about 2018. But the plant will also increase operational costs and water use.

The air-cleaning FGD technology has already been incorporated into the design of the Kusile project, in Mpumalanga province, raising its overall price tag to 142-billion-rand. However, it is estimated that the costs associated with Kusile will also escalate further on the back of project delays.

Also making headlines:

A 40-MW wind-power project is planned for Tsitsikamma.South Africa's largest steel producer, ArcelorMittal South Africa, will roll over its November prices into December.Westinghouse wins a 30-million-dollar Koeberg fuel contract.And, two employees at Transnet Freight Rail have been suspended.

That's a round up of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories please visit engineeringnews.co.za.